Of Ducks & Spiders
by Dragon's Ember
Summary: Nosedive really hates spiders.


It was a quiet Saturday. There had been no blaring alarms or random explosions all day. Wildwing almost felt bored for once as he sat in his room reading a hockey magazine. Had everything not been so peaceful, he would have opted to spend his time on something more valuable. But the couch was so comfortable, and the Pond was so quiet...

And then there was a scream.

It sounded more like a little girl than a teenage, battle-tested drake, which was what it was. Wildwing looked up from his magazine. No further sound came from the next room. He started reading again.

Then there was a thud, followed by a clang. Wildwing paused again. Nothing happened. He continued reading.

Then there was another incredibly girly scream, followed by more crashing and clanging. Wildwing sighed, put down the magazine, and went straight to Nosedive's room. He punched in the passcode and then ducked as a soccer ball flew through the doors and soared over his head. Nosedive was standing on his air hockey table, actual hockey stick in hand. Several objects lay scattered across the floor.

"Nosedive, what are you doing?" Wildwing demanded.

"Trying to smash that little abomination," Nosedive replied, scanning the floor madly. Wildwing scowled.

"A spider?"

"Yep!"

"Nosedive, for the last time," Wildwing said, "they can't hurt you."

"How do you know?" Nosedive responded. "Has one ever bit you?"

"Tanya said they're just as harmless to us as they are to humans."

"Well, I don't care. No little freak of nature is gonna be crawling around– HA!"

Nosedive jumped off the table and slammed the hockey stick down on a tiny black mass. He lifted it to find what remained of a spider smeared across the floor. Nosedive laughed maniacally.

"I got him," he told Wildwing.

"Great," Wildwing replied sarcastically. "That's great. Just... try to keep it down in here, okay?"

"You got it, bro."

Wildwing left, the doors closing behind him. Nosedive grinned at the smudge of a spider on the floor. Why Earth had so many creepy, bitey things, he would never know. But it didn't matter. There was a stack of comic books waiting for him, and everything was once again peaceful and perfect. Except for all the stuff he'd thrown and/or smashed. And that spider crawling on the wall.

Wait.

Wildwing returned to the couch and picked up his magazine. One of these days he was going to make Nosedive face his fears, but nothing was going to ruin this perfect day. Not Nosedive, not spiders...

BAM!

"Nosedive!" Wildwing yelled in annoyance. All he received in response was more crashing and Nosedive yelling something along the lines of, "Come here, ya little freak!"

Wildwing shook his head, reminded himself it's not nice to strangle siblings, and then proceeded to ignore the apparent war going on in the next room.

Nothing. Nothing was going to ruin this day.

* * *

Maybe it was the hiss of the metal doors or maybe it was the not so quiet tiptoeing of Nosedive. Either way, Wildwing woke up at who-knows-what-time-of-night to see Nosedive, dressed in boxers and an old hockey jersey, making his way toward the couch.

"Nosedive?" Wildwing said groggily. Nosedive stopped.

"Hey, bro," he said. "I didn't mean to wake you up. Can I sleep in here?"

"Well, yeah," Wildwing said. "Why?"

"My room is infested with spiders," Nosedive replied. "Every time I smash one, another one shows up and _taunts_ me." He shuddered, then added, "Oh, and I need a new VCR... and air hockey table."

Wildwing glowered at him. Judging from all the crashing and banging he had to listen to earlier, Nosedive had probably all but destroyed his room. Wildwing had half a mind to make him sleep in the ice rink, but all he said was, "Okay," and tossed him an extra pillow. "Good night, Dive."

"Good night, bro," Nosedive said, throwing his pillow on the couch. But just as he was making himself comfortable, something caught his eye – a little speck crawling along the wall. _Oh, come on!_

Nosedive weighed his options. Sleeping in either of the girls' rooms was asking for a punch in the face, Grin snored like a pig with a sinus infection, and Duke was out of the question. You don't sneak into the room of a guy who keeps swords on his wall, period.

That left just one place...

* * *

When Wildwing woke up, he noticed three things. The first was that Nosedive was no longer on the couch, which was weird because he usually slept late. The second thing, even weirder, was that the couch cushions were also gone. And the third was the pile of spare equipment next to his closet which, he was pretty sure, had been _in_ the closet the day before.

Wildwing tromped over to the closet and opened the door. The couch cushions were on the floor and Nosedive was on the cushions, sound asleep. Wildwing took a moment to process this, then nudged him with his foot. Nosedive woke up with an odd little snort.

"Mornin', Wing," he said cheerfully.

"Why?" was all Wildwing said.

"Why what?"

"Why are you in the closet?"

"'Cause your room has spiders, too," Nosedive said, as if it was the most logical thing in the world. Wildwing just stared at him.

"Have you been in there all night?"

"Uh-huh," Nosedive said, yawning. "It's actually pretty comfy."

Wildwing blinked a few times, slowly closed the closet door, and then left his room. Once he was in the hall, he wondered if he should tell Nosedive about the spider that lived in his closet. Then, right on cue, there was that high-pitched scream, and Nosedive burst through the doors and ran down the hall, still gloriously adorned in nothing but boxers and a jersey. Wildwing grinned.

This was the start of a very good day.


End file.
